By Hideki Moziuchi
TOKYO, April 2. JAPAN'S Sachiko Yamada, 19, broke the world record for the women's short course 800 meters freestyle today, clocking 8:14.35 on the second day of the Japanese National Short Course Championships.
Yamada broke the record of 8:15.15 set exactly four months ago by China's Chen Hua. Chen's time had erased one of the oldest records in the books: East Germany's Astrid Strauss's 8:15.34, set on Feb. 6, 1987.
Yamada record was the first-ever by a Japanese woman in a freestyle event, either short or long course.
After her race, Yamada told SwimInfo: "I was going for 8:13, but it still makes me feel great to have the record."
Yamada's splits:
100: 0.58.87
200: 2.00.78 (1:01.91)
300: 3.03.06 (1:02.28)
400: 4.05.56 (1:02.50)
500: 5.08.17 (1:02.61)
600: 6.10.95 (1:02.78)
700: 7.13.14 (1:02.19)
800: 8.14.35 (1:01.21)
Profile
Sachiko Yamada:
Born on Oct. 25, 1982
19 years old
Height: 1.76m (5'9-1/4")
Weight: 65 kg (143 pounds)
started swimming at age 3
8th in 800m freestyle at 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney s
8th in 800m and 7th in 1500m freestyle at 2001 World Champs in Fukuoka